[blindkid] Website Compliance in the Educational Setting

[DrV]

Thank you very much Eleanor.
Could you clarify 508 compliance?
Eric

On 9/19/11 6:52 AM, "Eleanor Robinson" <erobin8725 at aol.com> wrote:

>Hi Eric - your initiative is a really good idea.  I'm sure there are
>consultants who can ensure that a website is both compliant and
>attractive.  But it is a good idea to find out what is needed to meet the
>compliance standards to be sure that the person you are working with
>really knows the field.
>There are four basic parts to a compliant website - I just did a talk on
>this at the A11yBOS(that is the  AccessibilityBoston) unconference on
>Saturday. 
>First:  All illustrations or graphic components must have a label.  All
>controls must have some text associated with them either visible or only
>seen by a screen reader such as NVDA, JAWs, VoiceOver, or Window-Eyes, or
>be self voiced.
>Second: The tab order is extremely important - it should be left to
>right, top to bottom.  Context is essential.  All controls and headings
>must be in the tab order.
>Third: Any control that must be selected to do anything on the website
>must be able to be selected by keyboard, not just by mouse clicks.
>Buttons, drop-down menu controls, URL's links, all need to be given focus
>and selected, usually by the enter key.
>Fourth: Keep your website simple and uncluttered.  When you try to stuff
>too much into a page it is difficult to navigate and understand where you
>are.
>
>The other thing you should be aware of is that there are several free
>tools available to check your website for 508 compliance.  One of the
>ones I have used is Cynthia.  But you can probably find others by using
>google to look for 508 compliance tools.  When we do our annual review of
>the top 25 websites for gamers who are blind, we check each website for
>compliance and report that as part of our review.  Our website is
>compliant, but it is focused on computer games and so is designed to be a
>games website, not a general website.
>
>Using these principles and a tool to find out what is and is not
>compliant, a competent website producer can develop a website that meets
>the "attractive" criteria and yet be 508 compliant.
>
>If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me direct -
>eleanor at 7128.com
>
>Eleanor Robinson
>7-128 Software
>www.7128.com